In the facsimile art of recording electrical signals on a moist electrolytic web of paper or the like a typical facsimile recorder is constructed with a base having at one end a compartment for receiving a supply roll of moist electrolytic paper. In the base adjacent the paper compartment is a usually larger compartment or space in which is mounted a drum carrying on its periphery a helical electrode or helix. Beyond the helix are opposed feed rolls which grip the paper and draw it from the paper compartment through a recording zone above the helix where electrical signals applied to the helix and an opposed blade electrode on the other side of the paper pass a current through the paper causing a chemical reaction which marks the paper visibly. While the recorder described operates satisfactorily in many instances there is a tendency for the moist electrolytic paper to dry out during its travel from the paper compartment to the recording zone at the helix. The drying problem is particularly acute when recording and feed of the paper is intermittent or at very low rates. When the paper dries the electrolytic reaction diminishes and the quality of marking on the paper deteriorates.
Accordingly it is an object of the present invention to reconstruct the spacial arrangement of the paper location and the helix or other moving electrode so that the recording zone is so close to the paper supply roll that drying is greatly reduced or eliminated. A further object is to reduce the dimension of the recorder base in the plane of the recording zone. Frequently recorders are mounted on the panel of a larger instrument where surface area is limited. The present invention substantially reduces the area of the recorder parallel to the recording plane.